in the air there's a feeling of Christmas...

Andrew and I enjoyed another lovely weekend in Concord. We took the trip this time for the Southern Christmas Show in Charlotte. I have been looking forward to this all year! It was absolutely beautiful and even though it was 70 degrees outside, I felt Christmasy the second we walked in. The picture above is one of the "Christmas Around the World" displays. I don't remember what area or era this display represents, but I liked it because it reminded me of the Nutcracker. I especially like the little girl reading on the stairs. I think she's cute.

We had such a wonderful time. There was lots to see - arts and crafts, pottery, jewelry, food, Christmas decorations, etc, etc. Maybe my favorite part of the day was meeting Bill. Andrew and I were taking a rest on a bench, waiting for his family to meet us for lunch. Bill, who was probably in his 70s, dressed in a suit and Christmas tie, sat down beside us and preceded to take some snacks out of his neatly packed lunchbox. I started a conversation with him because he seemed nice. He worked at the Christmas Show, manning one of the many exits to make sure sneaky people didn't creep in without paying. As he was munching on a cherry turnover and sipping on some lemonade, he began to tell me about his job at the Christmas Show. The whole time, I noticed one of the other door watchers (a nice lady) kept looking his way. And smiling. And I thought, "Way to go, Bill! You've caught the eye of the pretty door watcher!" As we talked, he told us that he worked the Christmas Show every year with his brother, sister-in-law and his wife. Then he smiled and pointed to the door watcher and said, "That's my wife."

You guys...I melted. I can only hope that in 50 years, Andrew and I eye each other like my friend Bill and his sweet wife.

So that was our Christmas Show adventure. We got some Christmas shopping done, but mostly we just enjoyed Christmas things with family. And now, it is officially Christmas at the Castrodale home. We've been listening to the music since Sunday. Soon it will be Christmas Day...